A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

TWENTYSIX

"Hey man," George said when he saw Callum at the track in Abu Dhabi. George had a lunch break and walked around the paddock for a bit. "How are you?"

Callum smiled at his friend. "Mate," he said. They gave each other a handshake. "I'm fine, thanks. How about you?"

George nodded. "Alright, alright," he replied. "Such a shame you missed the first place by a few points..." He looked sorry.

"Yeah, it is. It wasn't the best way to finish this season, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the second place. Mick has the talent and the luck to win this season," Callum said and had a weak smile on his face. "Can't say you had a fantastic race last week as well."

A short laugh rolled over George's face to hide his hurt feelings. "You could say it's a black page in my career, but it is what it is," he said. "I luckily had the opportunities to race in the Mercedes, and I have learned a lot from it, so it wasn't a bad experience, but it's disappointed it didn't end like I wanted it to be."

"You could have won it," Callum said and rose his eyebrows. "But how did it happen? Everything looked so positive."

"Miscommunication and just sloppiness, it even happens in the best teams."

"It hurts," Callum said. "I can relate."

"But we have to look at the future, we have learned a lot, and it's only positive for in the future," George mentioned and showed a joyous smile. "I heard you are here for the young driver test with Alfa Romeo."

A smile curved on Callum's face. "Yup, I am."

"Very exciting, does this mean you got perhaps a chance to get a seat at Alfa?" Getting a seat, or being in the race for a seat, was a huge deal in this world. Every chance was a silver lining in a career. Callum stayed silence, meaning George understood it was a 'no'. "Still no seat next year? Will it be the test driver at Ferrari then?"

Callum looked questionable at George. "How do you know?"

"I do have my sources, Callum, and I follow the news," George smirked.

"Hmm-hmm," Callum hummed. "Catherine told you, right?" He didn't know if he was satisfied with it or not.

George pressed his lips into a thin line. "She accidentally told me during a..." He sighed. "During a sensitive conversation."

"Of course," Callum muttered and looked away. "How is she?"

"She's fine, struggling a bit with her arm; her cast got removed two days ago so..." George crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why don't you go to her and ask it yourself?" He was trying to find some things out from Callum's side.

Callum took a deep breath. "We...I can't."

"I'm not gonna stir in your dating life, it's your personal life," George ended the subject. "But I gotta go. We should go to the pub when we're back in England. See you later." Those were the last words George shared before he walked away.

Callum tightened his jaw and ran his hand through his hair. The sunshine's were kissing his skin, he enjoyed the warm weather in Abu Dhabi. Back in England, it was freezing. His eyes glanced over his watch; he had to go, he had an interview in a few. Callum made his way to the agreed interview spot and met up with the press officer from Alfa Romeo.

❉

Friday's free practices were just finished when Callum, Marcus, Mick and Robert were chilling at the hotel. They all visited their teams; Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Haas, and watched the race with them. There wasn't much they could do afterwards.

"I cannot wait for Christmas," Marcus sighed and laid on a couch. "No rules, no limits, just relaxation."

Mick snorted. "Don't complain. You didn't have to be here, but you wanted it yourself."

"Still," Marcus sternly replied.

"Then don't complain," Callum shot to Marcus. "Even though I'm not complaining to be here. Look at the weather, much better than England." He pointed at the sky and widely smiled.

"Touché," Mick agreed.

Robert looked up from his phone. "He doesn't mind to be here because of Catherine, obviously."

"Also a reason why I am still here: there's a whole reality drama show going on here, no way I'm gonna miss it," Marcus dramatically said.

"A reality show," Mick smirked. "Good one."

"What reality show?" Callum looked curiously.

Marcus, Mick and Robert began to laugh, what made Callum squeeze his eyebrows together. Marcus looked at Callum. "Oh, boy," he laughed. "He doesn't get it."

"Get what?" Callum asked.

"The one and only Cate and Cal show," Marcus said. "There's so much tension between the two of you, a-ma-zing. Such a shame of the camera's here they won't film is. The show would break records." He was telling about it like he had to sell the show to a producer.

The face of Callum straightened, and he looked annoyed at Marcus. "Shut the fuck up," he monotonously said.

"Still, no contact?" Mick asked.

"Nope. She doesn't seem to want it, I don't want it, and there you go: no contact," Callum explained. "Why do we keep talking about her? It is over."

Robert nodded impressed, that was how Callum said he was thinking about the situation; meanwhile, everybody knew that was the opposite of what Callum wanted. "Hmm-hmm, keep saying that. Have you seen her new Instagram post?"

"No."

"Alright," Robert sighed and showed Callum his phone. "There you go."

"Why are you creeping on Catherine Russell? That woman posted that picture two days ago," Marcus said confusedly.

"Because that picture shows up on my explore page," Robert replied. "Duh."

Callum looked at the Instagram post, and he swallowed hard. Catherine looked beautiful, and her smile... It made him feel empty, perhaps guilty, and he somehow missed her presence around him; the stupid jokes Catherine made, the gossip Catherine shared what Callum didn't follow, and just her smile... But it was for the best.

He looked up from the phone, and at that moment, Catherine passed them. She was eating an apple and had a book under her arm. Catherine was just Catherine, but something has changed.